tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67505202014-10-01T07:46:11.837+00:00baghdadskies2memories of a childhood in Iraq in the 1950s * thoughts on events in the Middle EastAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.comBlogger168125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-32502167952360746002008-03-19T14:29:00.002+00:002008-06-02T20:57:46.648+00:00Iraq 5 years onThe reason the posts in Baghdadskies petered out in 2006 was a comprehensive disgust at the mess the Americans had created in Iraq and the feeling that nothing I could say would be anything more than repetitions of this feeling. Here a selection of posts in Slate on the theme of Why I Did I get Iraq wrong? to coincide with the 5th. anniversary of the invasion on March 2003, stating with Kanan Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1142863100612377922006-03-20T13:57:00.000+00:002006-03-20T14:01:43.673+00:00Iraq three years onTelegraph 20 March 2006Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1139827735671496712006-02-13T10:47:00.000+00:002006-02-23T11:13:42.420+00:00Nonie Darwish We were brought up to hate - and we doAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1139780558383331162006-02-12T21:40:00.000+00:002006-02-23T11:09:31.370+00:00Say what you think. The importance of giving offenceKenan MalikIn December, before the controversy over the publication of a series of Danish newspaper cartoon images of the Prophet Mohammed became a global issue, the Muslim writer and broadcaster Kenan Malik addressed the key issues raised by the furore and others like it at a conference debate convened by Index on Censorship. EurozineAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1139684182389912462006-02-11T18:49:00.000+00:002006-02-23T11:26:31.316+00:00Muhammed Cartoons (3)Things are moving on a bit from Cartoons (3) as far as I am concerned. I have shifted into the nether regions of religion per se (What ? Where? When? Why? How?) coming across a few worthwhile contributions clustered round a book by Pascal Boyer, Religion Explained. Let them do the talking:Religion Explained: The human instincts that fashion Gods, spirits and ancestorsPascal Boyer London HeinemannAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1139658447593819122006-02-11T11:44:00.000+00:002006-02-16T10:29:26.866+00:00MOHAMMED CARTOONS (2)what do the cartoonists themselves think ?Danish cartoonists fear for their livesAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1139399533272963412006-02-08T11:46:00.000+00:002006-02-23T11:27:42.296+00:00The Art of ControversyWhich of Schopenhauer's 38 ways of cheating in debate does Iranian president Ahmadinajad employ inhis holocaust denial?They have invented a myth that Jews were massacred and place this above God, religions and the prophets," Ahmadinejad said in a speech to thousands of people in the Iranian city of Zahedan, according to a report on Wednesday from Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. The West Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1139397679082773782006-02-08T11:11:00.000+00:002006-02-11T11:13:05.173+00:00MOHAMMED CARTOONS wikipedia: Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy Cartoon from Jordanian newspaper Al GhadBefore this it was “Wonderful, Wonderful, Copenhagen!”, Hans Christian Andersen, a mermaid, bacon, pastry, and jokes about blondes and its famous lager. Now this small country with 4% muslim population (and it needs to be said a political current questioning the strictness Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1138628472617102162006-01-30T13:25:00.000+00:002006-02-01T11:35:08.156+00:00HAMASMelanie Philips : Hamastan 30 January 2006There's a lot more to this than what she says. Rabid, demented, unhinged anti-semitism has swilled around the Middle East for years. It is not just Hamas. It is part of the very bones of the conflict. If Arab countries are happy to have massively long t.v. series based on The Protocols of the Elders of Zion running, then what hope is there of a Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1137591892117455292006-01-18T13:32:00.001+00:002009-12-21T10:56:02.681+00:00Truth and lies over Iraq Melanie Phillps whose right wing credentials are not unknown, is a good starting point for a discussion on this topic. She leads us to two articles :The panic over Iraq This is a pdf but the link defaults to the archive from which you have to find the article - good luck!Who is lying over over Iraq?by Norman PodheretzThis wiki has a mass of links on NP~~~~~My position is Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1137591145354950922006-01-18T13:29:00.000+00:002006-01-18T13:32:25.356+00:00The ticking nuclear bomb The ticking nuclear bomb Anton La Guardia Telegraph Tuesday 17 January 2006~~~Ah well, tht makes it all a bit clearer thenAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1137321048978475622006-01-15T10:26:00.000+00:002006-01-18T13:29:33.536+00:00Iran again The origins of the Great War of 2007 - and how it could have been preventedNiall Ferguson The Sunday Times 15 January 2006Monsters of the Left: The Mujahedin al-KhalqMichael Rubin MEF 13 January 2006This article does background on the political hitory of Iran from Shah's time.Not sure on any opinions expressed here, but the facts hopefully accurate.Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1137246508555941172006-01-14T13:45:00.000+00:002006-01-14T13:50:04.016+00:00This Agatha Christie and Archaeology (4 parts starting here) from The British Museum is somewhere on the site or in the original Baghdadskies. Linked to again for people who have not come across it before.Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1137076597366940612006-01-12T14:29:00.000+00:002006-01-12T14:36:37.376+00:00War News Radio is new to me.These are some of the subjects covered on MP3 broadcasts.Check out the Images of War from 9 December post. Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1136887221636724752006-01-10T09:57:00.000+00:002006-01-10T10:02:22.343+00:00The Crisis facing the Middle East from Business 8 January 2006Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1136823314387215792006-01-09T16:10:00.000+00:002006-01-09T16:15:14.396+00:00 BLOGGING HAS REVOLUTIONISED DISSENT IN IRANThis is not a new subject but handy to have references.Iranian journalist and weblogger > Arash Sigarchi Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1136705794298042642006-01-08T07:27:00.000+00:002006-01-08T07:47:19.286+00:00eGovernment - The Kalashnikov TheoryA very interesting post from Simon Moores at Zintelligence about the whys and wherefores of e-Government in the Middle East. Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1136356461747023762006-01-04T06:33:00.000+00:002006-01-08T07:26:13.743+00:00Operations Ezra & Nechemia: The Aliyah of Iraqi JewsThis tells the story of the evacuation of 130,000 Iraqi Jews to Israel in 1951-2. Always intrigued me because these Iraqi Jews' ancestors were exiled from Israel 2,500 years ago. The story of their importance to modern Iraq has been told many times.The Jewish community of BaghdadAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1136356118559633632006-01-04T06:15:00.000+00:002006-01-04T06:31:19.666+00:00Michael J Totten has articles on Lebanon, Syria and Libya, which can be accessed from his website. I used to live in Libya, or rather my parents did, between 1960-70, when it was a Kingdom. It probably was a police state under the King, but obviously nothing like what it now is. It is a vaste, oil rich country with a small population, which is presumably kept happy on state hand-outs. Strange Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1136355091780515992006-01-04T06:03:00.000+00:002006-01-10T09:56:34.356+00:00Ahmadinejad: Europe created Israel to complete HolocaustIt doesn' really matter what he says in detail. He just has to keep saying Zionism to prime everyone for what he fears may come, especially his own population.From OpinionJournal (=Wall Street Journal) : According to the Jewish Virtual Library, Europe has 2.3 million Jews, and 11 of the 20 countries with the biggest Jewish populations are Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1136204642720732192006-01-02T11:31:00.000+00:002006-01-03T09:40:44.786+00:00Iran Means What It SaysMichael Rubin, 2 January 2006Iran must worry me if I am reading and taking note of articles from a Fellow of the AEI {2}, but there it goes. If I find information and/or opinion from centre/left sources to add to this, I will.Although MR is saying this is consistent and this is ideology, I think it is also based on an Iranian fear of what the Israelis and or the U.S. mightAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1135605144154791292005-12-26T13:43:00.000+00:002005-12-26T14:03:20.696+00:00Something old, something new Why the lessons of Vietnam do matter By Pepe Escobar 08/23/03: (Asia Times)Timeline US-Iraq 1980sfrom Center for Cooperative Research ...The ultimate quagmireBy Pepe Escobar The Asian TimesAdfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1134650822777205992005-12-15T12:31:00.000+00:002005-12-26T14:09:05.410+00:00It is always good to revisit ideas of facts if they help to clarify things:The 2003 Atlantic Monthly The Dark Art of InterrogationThe most effective way to gather intelligence and thwart terrorism can also be a direct route into morally repugnant terrain. A survey of the landscape of persuasion by Mark Bowden falls into this category as the meja turn incessantly to the business of extraordinary Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1134641138702558132005-12-15T09:50:00.000+00:002005-12-26T11:31:39.776+00:00With the Iranian president descending into the gutter of his own prejudices and fantasies it is quite important to take the story of Israel from within, i.e. how the Israelis are dealing with their problems among themselves as much as through the eyes of the Palestinians.Zionism in Crisis by Meyrav Wurmser in MEQ goes into the history of Zionism, always an instructive exercise. Though the idea Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750520.post-1134391394844443552005-12-12T12:40:00.000+00:002005-12-12T12:43:14.936+00:00Why Saddam's trial is so trying for the coalition: The 'trial of the century' has descended into a 'comedy show'. by Brendan O'Neill Spiked Magazine 7 December 2005Adfero Afferohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09653378916912708463noreply@blogger.com0